Tony Hawk

Skateboarder

Born: 12 May 1968

Birthplace: Carlsbad, California

Best known as: The star of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

Tony Hawk is the George Washington of skateboarding, a founding father whose charisma and bag of tricks fueled the sport's growth in the 1980s and 1990s. Hawk won dozens of pro tournaments and was the first to land a "900" (a 900-degree turn, or two and a half revolutions). His video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was a hit and spawned an equally popular sequel, Pro Skater 2. He published his autobiography, Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder, in 2000. In 2002 he launched the touring arena show of skateboard, bike and motorcycle riders known as the Boom Boom HuckJam.

Extra credit: Hawk co-founded the skateboard company Birdhouse... Like Frank Sinatra, Hawk is nicknamed "The Chairman of the Board"... Hawk played a pizza delivery boy in the 1987 movie Gleaming the Cube (starring Christian Slater).